The New York Times Company has agreed to sell its Boston Globe newspaper and other New England media assets to the owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team for $70m in cash,,a steep discount on the $1.1bn the publisher paid for the newspaper in 1993.
紐約時報公司周六(8月3日)宣布,,同意以7000萬美元現(xiàn)金將《波士頓環(huán)球報》和其他新英格蘭媒體集團資產(chǎn)出售給波士頓紅襪棒球隊所有者約翰·亨利。這一價格與紐約時報公司1993年收購該報支付的11億美元相比已大打折扣,。(《金融時報》)
《波士頓環(huán)球報》是美國最負盛名的幾家報紙之一,,目前發(fā)行量在美國報紙中排第17位,。該報創(chuàng)刊于1872年,從1873年開始就由波士頓的泰勒家族擁有,,直至被《紐約時報》收購,。當時的收購價格創(chuàng)出了美國報紙收購史上的最高記錄。
The Times said the all-cash sale,,expected to close in 30 to 60 days,,includes BostonGlobe.com,Boston.com,,The Worcester Telegram & Gazette,,Telegram.com,the direct mail marketing company Globe Direct and the company’s 49 percent interest in Metro Boston,,a free daily newspaper for commuters.
紐約時報公司稱,,此項全現(xiàn)金收購計劃預計將在30天至60天內(nèi)完成。除《波士頓環(huán)球報》以外,,此次出售的資產(chǎn)還包括:《波士頓環(huán)球報》網(wǎng)站,、Boston.com、《沃塞斯特電訊報》及其網(wǎng)站,、直郵營銷公司Globe Direct以及免費日報Metro Boston的49%股權,。(《華爾街日報》)
The Times announced in February it was putting the Globe and related assets up for sale four years after calling off a previous attempt to sell it. The company’s CEO said at the time selling the Globe would help the company focus attention on The New York Times brand.
紐約時報公司在2月宣布了出售《波士頓環(huán)球報》及相關資產(chǎn)的計劃。公司首席執(zhí)行官表示,,出售《波士頓環(huán)球報》將有助于公司集中精力于拓展《紐約時報》品牌,。早在4年前,紐約時報公司就曾宣布過出售《波士頓環(huán)球報》,,后又取消了該計劃,。(《華爾街日報》)
The New England properties were the last pieces of a once much bigger New York Times Co empire. The company has sold off everything - TV and radio assets,dozens of U.S. regional papers,,digital companies,,and its stakes in sports ventures - to focus solely on its flagship and international edition.
新英格蘭媒體集團是昔日強大的紐約時報公司所剩無幾的分支之一。為了專注于旗艦業(yè)務和國際版業(yè)務,,紐約時報公司已拋售了電視和廣播業(yè)務,、數(shù)十份美國地方報、數(shù)碼公司和其在體育企業(yè)中的股份等大量資產(chǎn),。(路透社)
Like many US newspapers,,the Globe has been hit by a slump in advertising revenue with circulation declining.The Globe enjoyed a weekday circulation of more than half a million in the early 1990s,but this has fallen off as readers migrated to the internet.
同許多美國報紙一樣,,《波士頓環(huán)球報》深受廣告收入大幅下降和報紙發(fā)行量減少的沖擊,。在90年代初期,,《波士頓環(huán)球報》的工作日發(fā)行量為逾50萬份,但由于讀者轉(zhuǎn)向網(wǎng)絡,,發(fā)行量便每況愈下,。(英國廣播公司)
The Globe isn’t the only newspaper to see a huge drop in its price at sale time.In April 2012,Philadelphia’s two largest newspapers sold for $55 million,,a fraction of the $515 million paid by a group of investors in 2006.
《波士頓環(huán)球報》并不是唯一出售價格大幅下降的報紙,。2012年4月,美國費城兩家最大的報紙以5500萬美元的價格售出,,該價格僅為2006年投資者為其支付的5.15億美元收購價格的一小部分,。(《華爾街日報》)
Driving these deals,one way or another,,is the collapse of the newspaper print ad market over the past few years—which shows no signs of stopping.U.S. print advertising fell 55% from 2007 to 2012,,according to the Newspaper Association of America. A further drop of 6.2% is expected this year,and a 6.8% decline next year,,predicts Magna Global,,a division of IPG Mediabrands.Another media agency,ZenithOptimedia,,expects total ad spending on newspapers to fall 8% annually in the years ahead. At that rate,,the total market for print newspaper ads would be reduced to less than $10 billion over the next decade from $49.3 billion in 2006.
促成這些交易的一大原因是過去幾年中報紙平面廣告市場的衰落,這一狀況目前仍沒有停止的跡象,。根據(jù)美國報業(yè)協(xié)會提供的數(shù)據(jù),,美國平面廣告從2007年到2012年間下滑了55%。IPG旗下盟博廣告公司的分支瑪格納環(huán)球預測,,預計今年該市場將再下滑6.2%,,明年將下降6.8%。另一家媒體機構實力傳播集團則預計,,報紙的廣告總開支在未來幾年中將每年下降8%,。按照這一速度,在未來10年里,,整個平面報紙廣告市場將從2006年的493億美元萎縮至不到100億美元。(《華爾街日報》)
The newspaper industry has struggled to stay afloat amid the digital transformation. Big US city newspapers,,such as the Boston Globe,,have been particularly hard hit. Metro newspapers historically generated a larger portion of their revenues through classified ads,making them especially vulnerable to the rise of the web and direct online competitors such as Craigslist.
報業(yè)發(fā)展在數(shù)字化變革的過程中舉步維艱,�,!恫ㄊ款D環(huán)球報》等美國大型都市報更是受到嚴重打擊。在地鐵上發(fā)行的報紙的銷售收入中,,很大一部分來自于分類廣告,,這使得這類報紙在面對網(wǎng)絡的崛起和來自Craigslist等廣告網(wǎng)站的直接競爭時格外脆弱,。(《金融時報》)